I've been following your president's admirable attempts at healthcare reform with quiet amusement (I live in Israel). The amount of debate your country puts in on this subject is utterly ridiculous. It's not hard - there are MANY countries around the world which have universal healthcare systems which function very well, without costing trillions of dollars. Why not copy one of those?

Here, A portion of income tax is simply labelled "health tax", and is budgeted towards health insurance. It is mandatory and progressive. The insurance is provided by one of several private insurers, who must comply with minimum coverage guidelines set forth by the ministry of health, and they may offer complimentary insurance (which is not expansive - to the tune of 50$ per month per person, max). The most important condition - They CANNOT refuse you coverage.

I honestly think it's a cultural issue - it would seem many US citizens simply can't get their heads around the fact that in a civilized society some services should not be operated for profit. Yes, it's limited socialism, but the cold war is over - you guys won. Get over the fear, guys.

As a 30 year Israeli, you sir are a LIAR
. A pitiful, hate-mongering LIAR.
I will say no more.

Actually, I'm pretty comfortable in justifying my country's actions by stipulating they are done mostly in self defense.
No need to invoke Godwin.
when rockets start raining down on your town from a neighboring refugee camp, what will be your proposed solution?

As a side note- Yes, I know the issue is much more complex. Yes, I know there are settlements, and bad history and oppression. However, Israel has outgrown that phase in its history. Everyone except the most hard-core right wingers have accepted the need (and moral duty) to retreat from the occupied territories and allow the Palestinians to form their own country.
We even pulled out of Gaza. Completely. No strings attached. Just upped and went. We also had to evacuate about 10k families, some of them forcibly, so it really wasn't easy. Almost tore our country apart politically, but we did it because it was the right thing to do.
And the people of Gaza did rejoice, and they created their own country and, once they have achieved their long-fought-for dream, settled down to build their future in peace. Sort of. not completely. Well, actually, not at all. They started bombing Israeli towns across the border. When asked what they want in order to stop the bombing, their answer is "to destroy Israel". It's in their charter. Really. You can check.

So no. I don't have to invoke the Nazis. I'm not happy about what we do, but I'm damned If I'll apologize for it to fools like you.

You know, I usually don't feed the troll, but seeing as you are not being modded down at the moment:
I live in Israel. Roughly 60% of the jewish population is completely secular. There are several parties in the current ruling coalition that are Religion-based, yes.

However:

1) The press here is free. Hell, it's so free that our citizens are getting somewhat tired from scandals being exposed.

2) There are "Arab" parties as well. They are represented in parliament according to the number of votes which they received.

3) I can - and often do - buy pork.

4) I can drive my car during Shabbas and have worked an unfortunate number of Saturdays. Almost all businesses are open 7 days a week.

5) I can convert to ANY religion I want and suffer no repercussions.

6) While we do study the bible (old testament) during our school years, we also study the theory of evolution (and believe you me, there is NO controversy here).

7) Our legal system is mostly based on British laws (due to their brief stay in power here).

You can disagree with current/past actions of the Israeli government (god knows I - and many other Israelis - do), but your attempt to paint Israel as a theocracy is either extremely naive or plain misleading.

So you're either an uninformed fool, or a propagandist asshole. Care to share which?

Also, the cation reads: "The gigantic jet observed by Steven Cummer and his team...". The internet is indeed for porn :-)

While what you say is true (there is genuine concern in Israel re: possibility of nuclear capability in Iranian hands), it's buried behind quite a lot of propagandist BS. Video of Blackhawk helicopters firing on rock throwing palestinians? Link, or STFU.